5 Questions: Teething Veils

September 9, 2022 / Rick_Taylor1972 / Leave a comment

When it comes to brewing deliciously wistful pop songs that are simultaneously beautiful and grandiose, yet also intimate, DC’s Teething Veils is a mastercrafter.

Led by DC-based singer-songwriter Greg Svitil, Teething Veils has long distinguished itself as a one-of-a-kind music collective that defies easy categorization. Clearly, there are elements of folk and traditional singer-songwriting at play (Leonard Cohen is a key influence), but there’s also something decidedly cinematic and strange. “To Have and to Hold,” Teething Veils” latest opus, feels like an epic soundtrack to an obscure art film that revels in fever dreams, distant memories and the surreal.

A key factor behind Teething Veils’ creative flourishing is its growing array of talented contributors. Initially, the band essentially acted as a one-man side project for Svitil. Today, Teething Veils is a five-piece ensemble featuring Kevin Shrew on percussion, Craig on bass, Hester on cello and Adrina on violin. The result is a richer, fuller sound that amplifies the emotional stakes of Svitil’s gorgeous songs.

While there’s no mistaking the melancholic nature of Svitil’s songs, there’s also an uplifting, dare I say – life-affirming aspect to the band. Washington Post music critic Chris Richards said it best when he observed that Teething Veils transforms songs that feel “funereal” into cathartic experiences, allowing “emotions to be purged and smothered, making time feel stranger than slow.”

I am delighted that Teething Veils is back to play We Fought the Big One at the Marx Cafe in Mt. Pleasant again. For the September 9, 2022 show, Teething Veils will be performing a stripped back set with Greg, Hester and Adrina. To add to the atmosphere, the show will be performed at midnight by candlelight.

In the interview below, I asked Greg about this special show. Our conversation also covered topics such as the creative process behind the new album, the evolution of Greg’s approach to songwriting, and drawing inspiration from real people and places to write songs. Read on…

1) Congratulations on your new album To Have and To Hold. It’s gorgeous. How closely does the finished album compare to what you envisioned when you started writing these songs?

Greg: Thank you, Rick. There are details that surprise me when I listen back, but as a whole To Have and to Hold sounds similar to how I thought it would prior to recording. I didn’t really imagine the recordings until I’d written all the songs, so it’s hard to say what I would have envisioned at that stage. I am really pleased with how we found the essence of the songs together as a band by playing in the rehearsal room, and also through playing live before recording. Playing the songs with other people in the room affected how they took shape. There are nuances that call attention to themselves differently with an audience. Playing the songs live as a way of leading up to recording has been a helpful part of that process. We tracked the core of the album live as a band, more or less in the same sequence of the finished album. What you hear is similar to how we sound when we were rehearsing. We benefited from recording these last two records with Don Godwin. He knows what we’re after and how to facilitate it. He has an easy, gentle way of setting the right mood and coaxing the clearest performances from people.

2) To what extent has Teething Veils’ approach to songwriting evolved to reflect the fact you work with more musicians and have a richer, fuller sound?

Greg: My way of writing songs has remained fairly simple, though over time and with experience, songs seem to have come out steadily truer to my intentions. I believe that comes from having a lighter hand throughout the writing process. We all learn the songs together and teach them to each other while we’re getting to know them.

3) Let’s talk about lyrics. How much of what you write about is based on personal experience versus your imagination? I’m dying to know is there a “Baltimore Broommaker” in real life? Is “Ruby’s Restaurant” an actual place?

Greg: These songs are all either autobiographical or about people I’ve known. The broommaker is any number of characters who give us a hand in sweeping our dilemmas under the rug. Ruby’s is really called Ruby’s Kitchen, though I misremembered the name of the place as Ruby’s Restaurant. It’s across the road from where the events in that song, The Poor Clare Monastery, and Christmas in Virginia all take place, and there is a fortune teller next door.

4) The cover of “To Have and To Hold” features a striking sunset over an ocean with red clouds courtesy of longtime collaborator Adam de Boer. What can you tell us about how this cover came about?

Greg: It’s a painting called Windchop no. 5. Adam noticed a recurrence of bodies of water—rivers, lakes, and the sea—in the songs, and traces of optimism, and volunteered the painting as cover art for To Have and to Hold. I don’t have much of a tendency to self-evaluate while writing, and since I share sketches of the songs with Adam ahead of recording so that he can make the artwork, he’s the first person who hears our albums in sequence, and his impressions are some of the first ones that I hear. To Have and to Hold has some overt threads that tie it together: the curiosity of what it means to have or to hold anything, and what comforts we find along the way when experiences and life itself are ephemeral. There’s serenity and aching at the same time. The water in the painting is choppy and you can tell that there’s a storm that’s passed and is calming down. The strings of clouds and the horizon encourage awe and optimism. Adam has made every one of our album covers and I consider him to be a member of the band.

5) For Friday’s show, Teething Veils is going to be playing a stripped back set with just Greg, Hester, and Adrina by candlelight. How do you feel about presenting Teething Veils songs in this way?

Greg: I’m curious about how the songs will present themselves with those arrangements, and at that hour. I’m glad that we’re doing this. Thank you for having us.

Listen to and purchase “To Have and To Hold” and more Teething Veils music on Bandcamp. Be sure to catch Teething Veils at WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St NW) on Friday, September 9, 2022 for a special midnight show by candlelight. Celebrity Meg and John Howard (The Plums, Jowe Head and the Fleeting Glimpses) will be joining us behind the turntables. Join us at 10pm for the fun!

5 Questions: Sansyou

August 5, 2022 / Rick_Taylor1972 / Leave a comment

There’s something magical about the way DC instrumentalists SANSYOU capture your attention with their delicate guitar chimes and spacey atmospherics.

Sansyou live at DC9_June 2022
Led by guitarist and long-time DC musician David Nicholas, Sansyou has always been a band that revels as much in the spaces in-between sounds as it does the ecstasy from a slow build and release of pure guitar magic. To put in more elemental terms, this is the kind of music that evokes the beauty and wonder of the California sunshine glistening across the waves and the restorative power of nature itself. It’s no wonder I keep going back to listen. And every time, I feel an inner calm and a connection to the natural world that is hard to explain.

It’s good news then that Sansyou is back with a sparkling new EP, “True North Coast.” The six-track release may be the instrumental collective’s finest offering to date. With contributions from Scott Gould (percussion loops), Michael Blank (bass) and Failure’s Kelli Scott (drums), the record sees Sansyou shine like never before, with their trademark guitar lines and melodies evoking The Durutti Column and The Chameleons U.K. Do yourself a favor and pick up “True North Coast.”

With a brand new release now out to the world, Sansyou is back playing live shows. We are especially excited that the band is returning for a special show at WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe in Mt. Pleasant on Friday, August 5th at 10pm. A perfect time then for another chat with Sansyou guitarist David Nicholas about their new release…

1) First off, congratulations on the new EP! It sounds amazing. What can you tell us about the title “True North Coast”?

David: Thanks. Over the past few years, I think we’ve all felt a bit lost and dislocated to some degree. As the songs came together for this record, so many references and paths led to southern California in ways I couldn’t plan or explain. When travel became possible, that feeling was affirmed over several trips to Los Angeles as people there became more involved in the record. So, it was really a west coast feeling that guided the whole project.

2) The cover for “True North Coast” is just as atmospheric as the sounds contained within. How did the cover come about?

David: I’m glad you felt that connection. That’s what happens when everyone involved has the same intentions for the images and music to work together. It’s always important to me, especially with instrumental music, that the artwork pull the listener into the same space as the music. Michael Blank, who played bass on the record is a photographer in LA and he felt the same way about the relationship of the images and music. I wanted some continuity from the last one, Eyes Front, and to capture the seaside feeling in the songs. He took the images in Laguna Beach and I think the music comes through perfectly in each shot we used.

David N with Pink Paisley_January 2022

3) From a production perspective, I don’t think Sansyou’s music has ever been captured more clearly than it has on “True North Coast.” What can you tell me about the recording process? Did it differ from previous releases?

David: More time. I’ve usually recorded all my guitar parts in one day. This time I decided to take that pressure off and do multiple sessions. Quite a few songs were recorded that didn’t end up on this one. I gave myself a chance to listen and live with the basic tracks for some time before committing to develop them. The luxury of editing without a deadline I suppose? Bass and drums were recorded in Los Angeles, some percussion in Pennsylvania, and the rest here in DC. At this point, recording parts remotely which the pandemic may have accelerated is actually an easy way to work. It allowed me to take advantage of Kelli Scott’s availability to drum on it before Failure left Los Angeles for their tour. Yet more LA connections.

4) I love that fans have the option of purchasing “True North Coast” on cassette? What made you decide to release it this way?

David: I’ve been buying new music on tape for some time and find that I listen to it differently. It definitely encourages listening to a full side without interruption so I focus and absorb the music more I think. Plus the tape available now is vastly superior to what we grew up with. For this one, I found a source for high ferric cobalt tape -if you want to geek out on the tech specs as I do. And from a production standpoint, tape is fast to turnaround and very affordable. So given the fidelity on top of that, it was an easy choice.

Sansyou live DC9 May 2022 Nancy pic

5) What has it been like to bring these magical sounding compositions from “True North Coast” to a live audience? Especially after quite a period where livestreams from home were the only option.

David: Everything is different now so live performances have changed too. The songs get a different spin in the duo format that we’re performing with now. I’m having fun using loops for the chords and my friend Scott Gould is on percussion. He uses a self-contained kit that sounds amazing with brushes in a way I’ve always wanted to hear but never could until now. This will be our third show together and it’s been a lot of fun since we go back many years and are just now getting around to playing out together. It’s great to have live music coming back and we appreciate the chance to play with the Big One again.

Listen to and purchase Sansyou’s music on Bandcamp. Be sure to catch Sansyou at WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St NW) on Friday, August 5, 2022 at 10pm. Hometown Sounds Podcast Host and DJ Paul Vodra will be joining us behind the turntables. Join us for the fun!

August2022

5 Questions: Dunia & Aram

July 1, 2022July 1, 2022 / Rick_Taylor1972 / Leave a comment

Like master chefs, the talented duo Dunia and Aram are all about making delectable confections out of the best ingredients possible.

In the case of Dunia and Aram, those ingredients include punky reggae, soul, jazz and more than a dollop of indie pop.

There’s an almost indefinable quality of magic to the way Dunia and Aram weave these disparate sounds and styles together in songs that are both effervescent and emotional. The quality of the musicianship is dazzling, a clear reflection that, after making music together for over 20 years, Dunia and Aram have mastered their craft.

Over the years, Dunia Best and Aram Sinnreich have performed around the world as a duo and with their bands Dubistry and Brave New Girl, as well as supporting a broad range of artists including post-punk icons Vivien Goldman and Ari-Up, as well as King Django, The Specialized Project, and Low Lily. It’s a testament to the duo’s versatility that they can play with such a wide spectrum of performers.

During the pandemic, Dunia and Aram have honed their performance as an acoustic duo at home in Silver Spring, Maryland, working with legendary German producer Hans Nieswandt on a new album of original music, titled “Bedfellows,” which was just released. The album includes a cover of Vivien Goldman’s post-punk classic ‘Launderette,’ and it can be streamed and downloaded starting July 8th from duniaandaram.bandcamp.com.

With Dunia & Aram set to play the Friday, July 1st edition of WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe in Mt. Pleasant, I reached out to the duo to ask them a few questions about their remarkable music project and their first proper album.

1) How does it feel to be releasing your debut album after playing together for over 20 years?

D&A: This isn’t really our debut album! Dunia and Aram have collectively released many recordings over the years, including three EPs and two singles by our neo-soul band Brave New Girl, and two EPs and an album of dubs and remixes by our reggae soul band Dubistry. Plus we’ve played together on a bunch of other people’s recordings, such as ska super-group The Specialized Project UK. This is still a first in some ways, though. It’s the first time we’ve recorded just as Dunia & Aram. And it’s the first album we’ve put out together with label support, which has been fantastic.

2) When I listen to your music, I hear so many disparate sounds and styles coming together – reggae, punk, jazz, indie pop – how did you arrive at the Dunia & Aram sound?

D&A: We think of this as New York music. Growing up in Brooklyn (Aram) and the Bronx (Dunia), our sonic environment was a mix of all these styles and more. There was no clean dividing line between jazz people, Latin people, hip-hop people, reggae people, punk people, and so forth, so there was no dividing line in the music. One of the nice things about recording for a “world music” label in Germany is that they’re not bound by America’s segregationist aesthetics, and they appreciate all of the many voices that crowd together and mix in unexpected ways in our music.

3) Outside of making music together as a duo, you have played with some legendary musicians from the post-punk era, most notably Ari-Up of The Slits and Vivien Goldman. How did you come to work with these legends and what was the experience like?

D&A: The musical partnerships we’ve been so lucky to have are really friendships in sonic form. When we first met Ari-Up in NYC back in 2000 or thereabouts, at a now-defunct club called Wetlands, we just instantly vibed. We spent the whole night talking, and from that moment on, we were family. Within a week or two, we were backing up Ari at shows (the first one might have been the Knitting Factory). She trusted us to play the right sounds without even rehearsing the material. For a while, Brave New Girl was her backing band, but our friendship long outlasted those particular collaborations, and she was in the hospital room when our daughter was born, about a year before she herself departed this plane.

Ari always wanted to introduce us to Vivien, but we never met until we collaborated on organizing a giant tribute concert after Ari passed, with members of the Slits, PIL, Neneh Cherry, and countless other punky reggae luminaries playing her songs together at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. After that, Viv was family, too, and when she decided she wanted to start playing live shows (around the release of Resolutionary), she brought us with her — as much for the emotional support as for the musical support. We’ve been gigging together ever since.

4) Dunia & Aram recently played in Cologne. How did this show come about and what can you tell us about the way audiences respond to your music there?

D&A: Our original Cologne connection is through our producer, Hans Nieswandt, another wonderful collaborator who began as a friend. We put the album together with Hans over the internet during COVID, and he’s the one who brought it to GMO the Label, which is also in Cologne. So when we were planning a trip to Paris for Aram’s academic work, we let GMO know, and they put together a showcase concert to debut the new album, just in time for the first batch of CDs to be printed. We played at a legendary rock club called the Blue Shell, which has amazing old NYC vibes, but is also very European in a way. We connected with the wonderful drummer Opek, who’s played with us on Brave New Girl and Hans Nieswandt recordings, but never met us in person before, and the three of us really clicked. The room was full of music and media industry people, and they were so enthusiastic, we felt like rockstars. Even our perfectionist, audiophile mastering engineer NUMINOS gave us a good review. It was wonderful to feel appreciated for everything that we are, as opposed to having to fit American musical categories, pleasing a ska crowd at one gig and a jazz crowd at another, and a folk crowd at another, never getting to show off all of our facets at once. That said, Cologne does have an amazing ska scene, and they were dancing the hardest!

5) Now that your debut album is out, what are your near-term future plans? Please tell us we won’t have to wait 20 more years for the next Dunia & Aram album. LOL!

D&A: We’re already writing material for the second Dunia & Aram album, and we’ll be playing two of those songs at WFTBO. We’re doing a lot of gigging together in the USA (next stop, NYC), and Dunia is also gigging a lot with her all-women ska supergroup Rudegirl Revue. We’re currently trying to set up some shows in the UK this fall, since we’ll both already be in the British Isles for other gigs. We’re also playing now in the DMV with an incredible world music group called Tributary Project, which combines elements American folk, rock, and R&B vibes with Kenyan percussion, plus Egyptian and Balkan vocal music, among other traditions, plus the two of us doing our thing. We played at the National Cathedral for the One Journey Festival last week, and we’ll be playing again at Bossa next month. Two of the drummers from that project, the Grammy-nominated Joseck Asikoye and Justo Asikoye, will be playing with us at WFTBO. It’s the same vibe as back in our Ari-Up days. We haven’t even rehearsed with them yet as we write this, but we know it’ll sound great because we vibe with them. Maybe they’ll be gracious enough to play on our next album!

Listen to and purchase Dunia & Aram’s music on Bandcamp. Be sure to catch Dunia & Aram at WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St NW) on Friday, July 1, 2022 at 10pm. Come early at 9pm for a sneak preview of “Bedfellows.” Translove Airwaves producer, filmmaker, radio show host extraordinaire Matthew Levin will be joining us behind the turntables. Join us for the fun!

5 Questions: Spring Silver

June 2, 2022June 2, 2022 / Rick_Taylor1972 / Leave a comment

Are music genres like bones – made to be broken? One listen to Maryland-based “post-genre” project SPRING SILVER and you might be inclined to think so.

(photo by Zig Coughlin)

The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist K Nkanza, SPRING SILVER keeps listeners guessing with its spinning plates approach to genre-shifting. “I Could Get Used to This,” Spring Silver’s recently released second full-length, is a tour de force of the band’s many strengths, encompassing everything from fist-pumping post-hardcore fury to wistful indie pop, strutting dance floor flourishes and even some dollops of dream pop.

It’s a credit to the talent of K Nkanza that this wide-eyed, multitudinal approach to music-making never comes across as contrived. In fact, all of SPRING SILVER’s different musical flavors blend together seamlessly like your favorite rainbow waffle ice cream cone — and the music is just as delicious.

With Spring Silver set to play the Friday, June 3rd edition of WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe in Mt. Pleasant, I reached out to K to ask him a few questions about his remarkable music project.

1) Let’s start with a little background. How did Spring Silver form?

K: Spring Silver is my musical project that I started after my previous band Aerial View broke up. I felt that having it be a solo project would feel more freeing creatively.

2) One of the things I love most about Spring Silver’s music is how the band breaks down barriers between genres. From the irresistible metallic crunch of “Little Prince” and “O Kristi” to the dance floor ready rhythms of “My Feelings on the Matter” to the Robin Guthrie-inspired dreaminess of “Call It Strength,” Spring Silver weaves together so many different styles and sounds so effortlessly and it’s always emotionally powerful. Is the band on a mission to tear down perceived genre barriers or is this something that’s not even thought about?

K: I try my best to create music that’s kind of “post-genre” where I take as many of the musical styles that I’m fond of as I can and combine them. It’s also meant to be a reflection of the vast amount of information that we all take in on a daily basis. “We” as in just everyday people.

3) Spring Silver has never sounded better than on the new album, “I Could Get Used to This.” Everything sounds so crisp and clear. What was it like to make this album, especially with so many guest performers and different instruments and sounds to capture? How pleased is the band with the end result and the reception it has received?

K: I feel as though both I and my friend Ananth whom I mixed this album with are really honing our engineering skills. I’ve always been fond of really tight, clean production. I wanted this album to stand out in an era of noisey stuff and lo-fi (which I love as well). I think the performances and the mix really helps unify the guest vocalists and the different drummers on this album. That and the fact that I was doing guitar and bass for all the songs unified the sound quite a bit.
(photo by Caroline Miller-Bruns)

4) In an interview with Bandcamp, K says that one of their aims with Spring Silver is to “represent a sort of abstract feeling, an abstract anxiety through a narrative.” Is there catharsis from this anxiety when performing these songs live?

K: I think there is some catharsis. Though I’m also preoccupied with trying to perform my best. I’m really lucky to be doing live shows with such talented players. I feel like we’re all on the same wavelength, so that makes it a lot of fun!

5) Spring Silver’s bandcamp page makes it clear the band likes to have fun with genre signifiers. Queer metal and They/Themcore immediately jump out, of course, then you have the old standbys “alternative,” “progressive rock” and “math rock.” But the one that makes me laugh out loud is “shugazi” – shoegaze infected post-hardcore because…why not? If there’s one thing Spring Silver has taught me, it’s that any combination of sounds is possible. Care to comment, K?

K: “Shugazi” is based on this post from a message board that’s kind of a running joke in music circles online. Somebody posted about how they had thought “shoegaze” was pronounced like “fugazi.” It’s kind of a fitting genre descriptor for Spring Silver, because the music kind of sounds like a mix of shoegaze and 90’s post-hardcore.

Listen to and purchase Spring Silver’s music on Bandcamp. Be sure to catch Spring Silver at WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St NW) on Friday, June 3, 2022 at 10pm. DC punk legends Brendan Canty (Messthetics) and Tom Berard (Tone) will be guest DJing.

6 Questions: Vivien Goldman

April 1, 2022April 1, 2022 / Rick_Taylor1972 / Leave a comment

How does one even begin to describe the singular force of nature that is Vivien Goldman?

(photo by Alexesie Pinnock)

According to Pitchfork, “no one’s more punk than Vivien Goldman.” But “punk” hardly encompasses the scope of Goldman’s prodigious talents and contributions to pop culture.

Goldman, who was born in London, played a key role in helping Bob Marley achieve worldwide fame. As Marley’s PR maven, Goldman helped put Marley on the front pages of some of the most widely read music publications at a time when Jamaican music had yet to be embraced by the mainstream. Helping Marley with publicity, however, was just the start. Goldman’s love for Marley’s music and Jamaican culture runs deep. She has authored two books on Marley (including his first biography) and is a well-respected reggae scholar that has lectured on his work at NYU, Rutgers and other universities, earning her the nickname the “Punk Professor.”

Of course, reggae is just one of Goldman’s areas of expertise. The other is punk.

Punk culture has shaped Goldman’s life and worldview in unique ways. When punk broke, Goldman had a front row seat as one of the few female music journalists when the British music weeklies were dominated by men. Goldman documented the extraordinary changes in music that punk ushered in, particularly the newfound starring role that women musicians played.

In the late 70s and early 80s, a time when many U.K. musicians would turn to reggae for inspiration, Goldman shifted from occasional backing vocalist to front-and-center post-punk artist, first as a vocalist for The Flying Lizards, then making solo recordings with a litany of talented friends and artists, including John Lydon and Keith Levene from Public Image Limited, Vicky Spinall from The Raincoats, experimental musician Steve Beresford and legendary percussionist Robert Wyatt.

Her collected works from this period, along with her recordings from her Paris-based collective Chantage, were released in 2016 as part of the widely heralded “Resolutionary” collection on Staubgold.

Goldman has become an unabashed champion of how punk offers a unique form of empowerment for women. Her 2019 book, “Revenge of the She Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot,” blends interviews, history and Goldman’s personal experience to explore what makes punk so liberating for women. The book has received rave reviews and is a must read for anyone interested in feminism and punk culture.

The success of the “Resolutionary” compilation inspired Goldman to write more songs. In 2021, Vivien Goldman released her first full-length album, “Next Is Now,” produced by Youth of Killing Joke. Following its release, Goldman hit the road in support of the record. Last August, Goldman teamed up with DC duo Dunia & Aram for a special outdoor concert at Rhizome DC. It was an exhilarating experience.

Of course, audiences were left wanting more. And now the “Punk Professor” herself is back in DC for another show – this time at the Marx Cafe in Mt. Pleasant to help celebrate the 18th Anniversary of WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE, DC’s longest-running monthly underground music party. Usually, artists who perform at WFTBO are asked 5 questions for a blog interview. But Vivian Goldman is anything but usual, and with so much to talk about, we have asked her 6 questions. As you will see, Goldman has a lot to say about what drives her multi-disciplined creativity, what life was a like as one of the few female music journalists and how she became part of the post-punk scene herself as a performer who continues to add to an impressive legacy. Read on!

1) By any measure, your career and life experience is nothing short of extraordinary. You have distinguished yourself as a music journalist, PR maven, author, broadcaster, documentarian, pop cultural commentator, music video director, “punk professor” and of course, musician. What led you to be involved in so many different disciplines and aspects of pop culture?

Vivien: So kind of you to say so! My instinctive answer is that for almost all my working life I have been a freelancer! Trying like all freelancers to use my skill set as actively and productively as possible with whatever medium is happening at the time that coincides with said skill set, to get information through. It was exciting to become a musician in the late 1970s/early 1980s, having been writing about the scene — it was the friends I made as a writer who invited me to sing, really. Then, when I did start doing music as an artist more than as a reggae backup singer, which is how I started, looking back it was as described in my book, Revenge of the She-Punks; when my musical partner Eve Blouin had to change course for personal reasons, the music business was not a massively welcoming industry for someone as weird as myself, entering rather late in my thirties. It felt natural to gravitate to making television when I had the chance; the medium in the UK was starting to make space for indies, rather than just the BBC. And I had always intended to make films, really, when I was a student! Things changed again when I moved to America in the early 1990s, leading me to become a Professor; lecturing large classes gave me the confidence to go in front of an audience, having never performed when I was a post-punk artist back then. SO when my compilation Resolutionary became popular and people asked me to perform, the teaching made me ready!

(photo by David Corio)

2) You started your writing career in 1975 – a time when there were very few female music journalists. What was it like for you as a woman to carve out a space for yourself in the industry at that time, especially as a woman with an interest in black music and Jamaican culture?

Vivien: I didn’t have much competition in the music press in terms of wanting to cover the “black music” scene, as it was then called in the UK. Most of the lads were interested in rock’n’roll, or maybe punk, more than reggae. Actually, there was a lot of gender-based conflict working on the paper where I wound up as Features Editor. Several of the lads really didn’t like having a female colleague pushing a somewhat different agenda, and were firmly convinced and invested in the idea that rock was a boystown and so it should remain. But the punk scene changed a lot of things, giving somewhat more of an opening than had been previously enjoyed by women in pop. The musicians in general were much more welcoming.

3) During the twin pop cultural tides of punk and post-punk, you lived in a flat in the neighborhood of Ladbroke Grove – a nexus for a lot of exciting activity. What was it like to be surrounded by so many creative friends and neighbors – from The Slits and John Lydon to Joe Strummer and Brian Eno – and to not only see the merging of punk and reggae, but document what was happening for the influential British music weeklies?

Vivien: It was West London’s Ladbroke Grove, around the famous Portobello Road, and it was a daily buzz to be part of such a creative community. That first punk/reggae axis was a small community. London was much more navigable then! There were squats and cheap housing available which is a big part of making a creative community.

(cover of Vivien Goldman’s “Dirty Washing” EP, released in 1981 by 99 Records)

4) It wasn’t long before you started making music yourself – first with The Flying Lizards, then your own solo recordings. How did the “Dirty Washing” EP come about? And how did you manage to involve so many talented friends from John Lydon and Keith Levene to George Oban from Aswad, Vicky Aspinall from The Raincoats and even Robert Wyatt?

Vivien: The first singing I did was as a reggae backup singer with people like Neneh Cherry and the Slits’ Arri Up, for producer Adrian Sherwood. I was invited to join the Flying Lizards, who were really an avant-garde collective that collided with New Wave and early synth-pop, by the man I call King Lizard, David Cunningham. I can’t really remember how, but he heard me singing, and Deborah, who sang on the “Money” classic hit, had no interest in doing any more recording, so off we went. All the people on Launderette were my pals. George and I had made a cassette of the songs and I played them to the musicians, and they liked them, starting out with John Lydon who really helped me make the Dirty Washing 12″ on a practical level as well as co-producing..

5) In the early 80s, you moved to Paris and formed Chantage with Eve Blouin. What led you to leave London for Paris and what was it like to make music as Chantage during this time?

Vivien: Human reasons took me to Paris at the time, and it was a thrilling period, with Jack Lang as Minister of Culture there was a much-missed sese of artistic renaissance. Having been working with reggae in London and Jamaica, it was Paris that opened the world of African music to me, as it was all around. I was writing for the magazine Actual, and our editor/publisher was a champion of soukous and other sounds, steered by my partner in our duo Chantage, Eve Blouin. It was such a glorious optimistic moment with a sense of new beginnings. Every time I hear Many Dibango’s guitarist, Jerry Malekani, play on our Chantage record, it transports me back there.

(cover of Vivien Goldman’s “Next Is Now” LP, released in 2021)

6) Fast forward to 2021, and you released your first full-length album “Next Is Now,” which was produced by Youth. What led you to make the album and what was it like working with Youth? Also, what was it like to go on tour and share your songs with live audiences after covering live shows as a music journalist for so many years?

Vivien: The popularity of my 2016 compilation Resolutionary led to my being asked to do shows. I had never done shows before. I didn’t have enough music to cover the length of the shows, and Youth, an old friend, suggested we record a couple more tunes which went so well, they led to the LP! It might have been much more challenging had I not been teaching for quite a few years now. Some of my classes were vast, bigger than a full club (not NYU, but other institutions.) That got me used to interacting with actual live people rather than a microphone in a studio.Going out on tour, or on stage, is still a fairly new experience for me and I am loving the engagement. Just to perform with my dear friends Dunia and Aram and sing the songs I love, turns out to be a joy.

Listen to and purchase Vivien Goldman’s Resolutionary compilation and Next Is Now album on Bandcamp. And check out Vivien Goldman’s website for more information about her amazing contributions as a writer, educator, broadcaster and musician. Be sure to listen to and purchase Dunia & Aram’s music on Bandcamp. Be on the lookout for their soon-to-be-released debut album. The WE FOUGHT THE BIG ONE 18-Year Anniversary show is at the Marx Cafe (3203 Mt. Pleasant St. NW) on Friday, April 1st at 10pm.